Battle of the Saline River
| Battle of the Saline River | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Indian Wars | |||||||
 "Wounded and lifted on Horse"- A painting by C. Taylor from the book "Ups and Downs of an Army Officer" written by George Augustus Armes. The painting describes when the then Captain Armes was wounded in the hip and lifted up on a horse during the Battle of the Saline River in August 1867  A map of the Smoky Hill River drainage basin in the central Great Plains of North America, State of Kansas, that includes the Saline River | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States | Cheyenne | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Captain George A. Armes William Cody, scout[1] | Tall Wolf (son of Medicine Arrows) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 87 cavalry | About 400 warriors | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
3 killed 35 wounded |
6 killed Unknown wounded | ||||||
The Battle of the Saline River in August 1867 was one of the first recorded combats of the Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. 10th Cavalry. This battle occurred 25 miles northwest of Fort Hays in Kansas near the end of August 1867.[2][clarification needed][see discussion]
Prelude
On August 1, 1867,[3] Cheyenne warriors under Tall Wolf, son of Medicine Arrows, attacked and killed a party of railroad workers in Ellis County, an incident which led to a battle between the Cheyenne and Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Hays that became known as "The Battle of the Saline River."[4][5]
Battle
Captain George Augustus Armes, Company F, 10th Cavalry, while following an active "hostile indian" trail along the Saline River was surrounded by about 400 horse mounted Cheyenne warriors. Armes formed a defensive infantry style "hollow square" with the cavalry mounts in the middle. Seeking better defensive ground, Armes walked his command toward Fort Hays while maintaining the defensive square. After 8 hours of combat, 2,000 rounds of defensive fire and 15 miles of movement, the Cheyenne disengaged and withdrew. Company F, without reinforcements, concluded 113 miles of movement during the 30-hour patrol, riding the final 10 miles back to Fort Hays with only one trooper killed in action. Captain Armes commented later, "It is the greatest wonder in the world that my command escaped being massacred." Armes credited his officers for a "... devotion to duty and coolness under fire."[2][6][3]
Aftermath
Within a short time of violent clashes between
See also
- Buffalo Soldiers
- List of battles fought in Kansas
- Military history of African Americans
References
- ^ Colonel W.F. Cody (1920). An autobiography of Buffalo Bill. Cosmopolitan book corporation. p. 100-102. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
- ^ a b Wilhelm, Bob (Superintendent of Historic Fort Hays) (2009). "The Battle of the Saline River". Leisure and Sports Review (LASR). Retrieved October 28, 2010.
- ^ a b Armes, George Augustus (1900). Ups and Downs of an Army Officer. Washington D. C.: C. L. Taylor Publishing. p. 268. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
Armes, george A.
- ^ Wilhelm, Bob (2009). "The Battle of the Saline River". LASR.
- ^ ISBN 0-8117-0019-4
- ^ Weiser, Kathy (compiler) references Bob Wilhelm as author (2009). "The Battle of the Saline River (1867)". www.Legends of Kansas.com. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ "Treaty with the Kiowa and Comanche, 1867" (Medicine Lodge Treaty). Archived November 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 15 Stats. 581, Oct. 21, 1867. Ratified July 25, 1868; proclaimed Aug. 25, 1868. In Charles J. Kappler, compiler and editor,Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties — Vol. II: Treaties, pp. 977–982. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904. Through Oklahoma State University Library, Electronic Publishing Center.
- ISBN 0-385-11274-2.
Further reading
- Greene, Jerome A. (2004). Washita, The Southern Cheyenne and the U.S. Army. Campaigns and Commanders Series, vol. 3. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3551-4.
- Schubert, Frank N. On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier II: New and Revised Biographies of African Americans (1866–1917), Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8420-5079-1.
- Tom, Willard, Buffalo Soldiers. Tor/Forge, 1997. ISBN 978-0-8125-5105-1
External links
- Battle of Punished Woman Fork - Last Indian Battle in Kansas—1878, Keystone Gallery, Scott City, Kansas.
- Legends Of Kansas - History, Tales, and Destinations in the Land of Ahs - Battle of Punished Woman Fork, aka: Battle of Squaw's Den Cave (1878). Legends of Kansas, Warsaw, Missouri.